wall street

Asian stock markets plunged as investor sentiment was battered by the rout on Wall Street.

Hong Kong stocks fall more than 8 percent in early trading after steep Wall Street declines.

Japan’s Nikkei index fell more than 10 percent in early trading following massive losses on Wall Street.

Japan's Nikkei index has fallen more than 10 percent in early trade following massive losses on Wall Street.

Stock markets across Asia posted sharp losses in early trading Friday on the heels of a steep sell-off on Wall Street.

Frantically trying to stop the bleeding on Wall Street, the Federal Reserve took a first-time step Tuesday to get cash directly to businesses and hinted that interest rates could come down soon.

Stocks continued their free fall anyway and hit new five-year lows.

The stock market seem to be stabilizing, aided by news that the Federal Reserve will buy up short-term debt in order to get companies financially interacting again.

I won't get into the gruesome details, but buying up short term debt (known as commercial paper on Wall Street - a mechanism that enables companies to borrow money overnight or or over the course of a few days) is an area that the Federal Reserve rarely gets into.

Of course, these are historic times and the Fed will every tool in its arsenal to reverse the sliding economy.

That's what we're seeing here - and it seems to be...

Japan's central bank left its key interest rate unchanged Tuesday amid heightened anxiety that the U.S. credit crisis was quickly spreading from Wall Street to Europe and beyond.

While much of the national coverage of the banking and credit crisis has focused on its impact on Wall Street and Main Street, institutions of higher learning are also feeling the pinch.